Most Helpful Customer Reviews

I have owned this tablet for about 3 weeks and purchased it at Best Buy (which I despise) because of a lower price than Amazon. I took the tablet with me on a 2 week vacation to Thailand and used it every single day for everything from converting currency to weather predictions and it performance far exceeded my expectations. Web pages load lightning fast and email worked flawlessly. It is extremely easy to use, set up and customize to my preferences and once amazon resolves the open box issues with it I will buy five for family members. I was unsure what size to get and was able to try the 10.1, this one and the smaller 7.0 at Best Buy. The 8.9 seems just the right size as far as comfort when using and reading ebooks. The hardware build seems solid and sturdy and is very lightweight and thin. The screen is better than my HDTV with color rendering and sharpness almost perfect, at least to my eyes. I loaded about 20 mp3 albums onto the player and used it on the plane. It surprised me how good the sound was, but I also have shure premium ear buds which sound really good on any device I use them with. Right now I am loading movies and concert videos onto the tab and it is a breeze. Windows automatically converts them to play on the tab and it takes about 30 minutes for a video to load. With pictures, movies or music samsung automatically puts them into the proper folders by some electronic magic that is beyond me. I was able to view the pictures I took in Thailand easily, but I knew I had to buy the extra accessories ( an SD card adapter and a USB adapter) prior to doing this. The wi-fi connection worked great and I was able to watch Amazon prime videos before I left with no stuttering or interuptions and good sound quality.Read more ›

I have had this tablet for 5 months now, and think it's absolutely fantastic. I shied away from 10" tablets, as I think they are too big. Likewise, 8" and below as too small. Very thin, and I can fit in my jacket pocket without difficulty. Have dropped a few times, but no damage, etc. Color is very good. Samsung also provides the screen for the Ipad.

I looked at nearly every tablet on the market before selecting. I realise that the 8.9 size is not terribly popular, but to me is the perfect size.

My only gripe is with the Samsung Kies software for file transfer. Doesn't work with Win7 X64. However, I think WiFi File Explorer is much better, and no need for cables. I do wish it had a CF slot, esp. since it was available only in 16GB size. However, I keep most everything in an Evernote database, with more than 5,000 images and notes, plus lots and lots of apps, and still have 9GB free. In reality, it has more capacity than I know what to do with.

I ended up buying my tablet at Best Buy also due to the lower pricing. They have the 16GB model on sale for $350. I have owned mine for 3 weeks now and can't find anything to complain about. I've had a few programs crash here and there but it has nothing to do with the hardware. I can't wait for the ICS update coming this spring. I have owned 3 different iPhones starting with the 3G and now have the 4S (work phone). I went to compare all of the models at the store. I just couldn't get myself to buy an iPad. They seemed like a blown up version my my dang phone minus the phone capability. I went with the Samsung Tab 8.9 because it was the perfect size. If you buy this thing make sure to download a split keyboard. It's perfect for this tablet! You can hold this baby in one hand and not get tired of holding it after 15min. Also the flexibility of Android is awesome! Yes, it takes a little time to set it up the way you want it, but it's totally worth it in the end.

I bought the Galaxy Tab 8.9 from Amazon. So far it has been really good. The size is perfect. 6 to 7 inch screens are good for ereaders but a little small for tablets - a lot of the smartphones are coming with 4.7 to 5 inch screens now. 10 inch tablets are a little too big in terms of portability and the ability to hold with one hand. I think the 8 inch form factor is perfect. The Galaxy Tab 8.9 weighs less then a pound so I can easily hold it in one hand and it is convenient to put in the same bag along with my notebook computer. It has a dual core Tegra 2 so it is not as fast as the quad core Tegra 3 tablets but it is fast enough for me. I don't use it to play games mostly for surfing the net, reading, and some office productivity work.

Samsung has done a good job with the tablet from a physical stand point. My problem is Honeycomb. The OS lags a little and is not as responsive as iOS. I am waiting for the ICS update which should be out later this month. Hopefully that will improve responsiveness. We will see.

I use a tablet computer like a newspaper. I take it to the table in the morning and over breakfast start scanning the headlines, checking email, maybe watching a Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert clip from the night before. Sometimes I use it for streaming music from my local radio stations, or for Songza. What makes much of this possible is Adobe Flash. I got really frustrated with all the new ICS android devices, since none of them support flash. My wife has an Ipad, and is constantly frustrated by not having flash, and I had (and returned) a new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (which actually says on the box it supports Flash, but DOESN'T) and the Nexus 7 because they don't have it either. Sure, eventually, HTML5 will be available (sometime in 2014???) but who wants to wait that long in order to view video on the web that anybody with flash can easily see right now? Excellent device. Reasonable shipping time.